Instagram head Adam Mosseri has warned that artificial intelligence will upend how people create and interpret visual content online, predicting the end of the “polished” aesthetic and the rise of a more “raw” and imperfect social-media style.
In a year-end reflection posted on Threads, Mosseri said that AI-generated photos and videos are flooding feeds and steadily eroding the assumption that visual media reflects reality.
“For most of my life, it was reasonable to assume that photographs and videos largely reflected real moments. That assumption is no longer valid,” he said, adding that people will increasingly approach online media with scepticism and focus instead on who is sharing content and why.
The Instagram chief said traits once considered uniquely human—authenticity, relatability, and voice—are becoming replicable through AI tools that can produce convincing deepfakes and synthetic imagery.
As authenticity becomes scarce, he argued, creators who thrive will be those who can maintain genuine connection despite the growing sophistication of generative technologies.
End of Perfection
“The aesthetic of the polished feed — lots of makeup, skin-smoothing, high-contrast landscapes—is dead,” Mosseri wrote in a separate post on January 1.
“Savvy creators are going to lean into explicitly unproduced and unflattering images of themselves. In a world where everything can be perfected, imperfection becomes a signal. Rawness isn’t just aesthetic preference anymore—it’s proof.”
He noted that younger users are already shifting behaviour, sharing spontaneous photos and videos privately via Direct Messages rather than posting curated feeds. The next phase of social media, he said, will reward creators who embrace visible flaws as signs of honesty.
New Trust Architecture
Mosseri also acknowledged that platforms such as Instagram will need to evolve quickly. He called for clearer labelling of AI-generated content and closer collaboration with device makers to cryptographically “fingerprint” authentic media at the moment of capture, creating a verifiable trail of provenance.
“Detection will only get harder as AI becomes better at imitating reality,” he warned.
“Rather than focusing solely on spotting fakes, it may be more practical to verify what’s real.” His comments underline a growing concern across the tech industry: as generative AI blurs the line between real and synthetic, social-media authenticity may depend less on flawless visuals—and more on the trust users place in the imperfect humans behind the screen.
Experts say the shift could reshape influencer marketing and brand campaigns, forcing advertisers to prioritise genuine engagement over aesthetic perfection.
As AI tools proliferate, the premium on originality and human nuance is likely to increase, making authenticity a defining currency in the social media economy of the future.
